


Afterthought

by kiite



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-02
Updated: 2018-05-02
Packaged: 2019-05-01 03:01:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,239
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14511081
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kiite/pseuds/kiite
Summary: It's hard being an afterthought.





	Afterthought

**Author's Note:**

> heres a fic about how crow is not even mentioned in season 1.. Enjoy

It had been months since Crow last saw Jack.

He doesn’t remember what they even fought over. Something dumb, as always. Crow had stormed out and left without a word, or maybe a few choice words he couldn’t repeat around the kids, driving back to his hideout in anger.

Crow had decided he had to be the one to apologize. Living separately, the foster brothers didn’t get to see each other very much; Crow was often busy watching the kids, Yuusei building bikes, and Jack brooding. Crow didn’t like leaving things like this, and he knew Jack would never apologize first.

He hopped off his bike as he pulled up in front of the building where Jack liked to hang out. As he was gazing up at the imposing structure, someone tapped him on the elbow, nearly making him jump.

“Um… Are you here to see Jack?” Crow looked down at the kid, who he hadn’t seen before. Their curly red hair couldn’t be contained by their hat as it fell over their shoulders and back. They had a small marker under their left eye; he briefly wondered what they did to get it. Crow blinked and nodded in affirmation.

“He’s not here…” the kid said, looking down. Crow squatted down, putting himself on eye level with the kid.

“Do you know where he is? I need to talk to him.” Crow asked gently; he always was better at talking to kids than adults. The kid shook their head, looking back up at Crow.

“He’s… He left Satellite. He’s in Neo Domino.” Crow lost his balance, rocking back on his heels and nearly falling over before catching himself with a well placed hand on the ground. He steadied himself before turning back to the kid, incredulous.

“The bas-“ Crow stopped himself, checking his language in front of the kid. “Jack actually did it… Wow.” He pauses for a moment, taking it in. “How’d he do it?”

The other stiffened, looking visibly upset. Crow wondered if he should apologize, but they started speaking. “He tied me up and put me in a boat… My friend had to come save me, and while he did, Jack stole his D-Wheel and his ace card.” The kid sniffed a bit, looking close to crying. “It’s my fault Yuusei doesn’t have Stardust Dragon anymore…” they whispered.

Crow perked up immediately. “Jack took Stardust?!” The kid’s eyes widened in surprise, and they stepped a little closer to Crow.

“You know Yuusei?” they asked curiously, sounding a little less sad. Crow nodded.

“Yeah, we’re- Yes. I know him.” He paused for a second, thinking his next words through. “How’s he doing after all that?”

The kid gave him a sad smile. “Well, when he jumped in after me, he got really sick from swimming in the water… But he’s been getting a lot better. He’s still stuck in bed, but we’ve been taking care of him!”.

 _Must be nice_ , Crow thought in a rare moment of spiteful immaturity; arguably, as a very mature fifteen year old, he was entitled to it, but that was another debate entirely. He recalled when he had gotten sick a few months back; he had to power through it, for the kids’ sake. He couldn’t afford to buy medicine, and stealing was out of the question as long as his body was weak. He had been half convinced he’d die those two long weeks of illness.

He shook his head to clear the nasty thoughts away. He hadn’t died, he’d survived; and if he really wanted help, he’d live around other people, like Yuusei did. He had no right to complain when it was his choice. Instead, he grinned and patted the kid on their hat gently.

“Thanks a lot, kid. I’ll probably be by to visit Yuusei soon, once he’s back on his feet. Thanks for takin’ care of him.” He turned to move back towards his D-Wheel, but stopped. “Oh, and kid? Don’t blame yourself for what happened. Jack can be a real jerk sometimes, though I’m sure you know that, and Yuusei loves to play the hero. I’m sure if you hadn’t been there, Jack woulda found someone else to endanger, and Yuusei woulda saved them all the same. Just a matter of being in the wrong place at the wrong time, y’know?”

He mounted the Blackbird and gave a casual and lazy salute, still smiling. “Take it easy, kid. See ya around!” With that, he drove off, leaving Rally standing in the same spot, gently touching the top of his hat with his palm. “T-thanks…” He whispered to no one in particular, still watching the horizon.

* * *

 

He was supposed to go visit Yuusei soon after. He didn’t.

Making excuses had always come easy to Crow. His first was that Yuusei was still recovering, and he should let him do that in peace. When that left the realm of possibility, Crow convinced himself that Yuusei was busy building a new D-Wheel. Common sense told him that Yuusei was always working on a D-Wheel, and it had never disturbed their visits before. So that one was out, too.

Crow’s biggest excuse, the one that kept him from visiting for the longest, was that if Yuusei really wanted to see him, he’d come visit Crow. He knew this was a shitty excuse, and he couldn’t spend his life waiting for people to do what he hoped they would; that was the whole reason he had gone to apologize to Jack in the first place. Nonetheless, Crow clung to it for much longer than he should have.

Eventually, he realized that he needed to talk to Yuusei; he couldn’t keep on like this, and he didn’t want to miss another brother. He drove to Yuusei’s hang out, parking his D-Wheel outside. As he removed his helmet, a familiar voice called out to him.

“Hey! It’s you!” Crow startled as a familiar red-headed kid ran up to him. Their face showed their excitement, when suddenly they were struck by a thought. Apprehension and hesitancy filled their expression, and they looked at Crow with wide eyes. “You’re not here to see Yuusei… are you?”

Crow felt something cold curl in the pit of his stomach. “That was my plan, yes.” Crow responded, more impatiently than he intended. “But I feel like you’re about to tell me some bad news…”

The kid closed their eyes and sighed. “Yeah… Yuusei left for Neo Domino City a few days ago.” They opened their eyes, a look of pride crossing their face. “He was really cool though! He dueled a Security officer and went really fast to make it through! You should have seen it!”

Crow sighed as well, a sad smile on his face. “Yeah,” he said quietly, “I should have.” He looked down at the helmet in his hands, shaking his head very slightly. Once again, he’d waited too long, and paid for it. It didn’t stop him from wishing at least one of them had said goodbye, though.

He waved to the kid and thanked them, turning back to get on his bike. “Wait!” they called out, causing Crow to stop and look back over his shoulder. “Who… who are you, exactly?” they asked, watching his intently.

“Ah…” Crow exhaled, turning back to his bike. He put his helmet back on, the visor obscuring his face as he spoke. “No one important, I guess.”


End file.
